


Festival

by Legume_Shadow



Series: Whispers (Prequels to the Echoes Series) [8]
Category: Peacemaker Kurogane, Rurouni Kenshin
Genre: Alternate Universe - Historical
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-11
Updated: 2014-11-11
Packaged: 2018-02-24 22:26:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2598719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Legume_Shadow/pseuds/Legume_Shadow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's 1862 and summer festivities in Edo are underway, but tragedy strikes as the seeds of an underground bid for power start to bloom and grow.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Festival

**Author's Note:**

> The graphic violence level in this is not really violent compared to what is coming down the line, but it is a bit more violent than graphic than what's been written so far for this particular series.
> 
> First Publishing: AO3, November 2014. All copyrights apply to the appropriate parties and no profit is being made from this fanwork.

**Part 7: Festival**

_Summer 1862_

 

Sakura hid the smile to herself as she saw her friend's expression go from curious to surprised that slid into joy. She saw Mitsu embrace Souji, whispering words of congratulations, and though she herself had not been privy to what exactly Mitsu was congratulating her younger brother upon, servants and guardsmen were a notorious mill for rumors. She had heard that Souji had achieved mastery of all forms in Tennen Rishin Ryu and that he had received his papers in both mastery and instructorship.

She had not expected any less from a genius of a swordsman such as he, but refrained from approaching to offer her own congratulations. Even though she knew that Mitsu now considered her more of a friend than a bodyguard, she was not of the family, and had no business intruding in upon family matters. If she ever got the chance to talk to the young man alone, then and only then would she congratulate him.

“We should go into the city tonight to celebrate,” she heard Mitsu say. “I heard that there are going to be fireworks.”

“Fireworks?” Mitsu's young son, Kiyoshi, chirped, tottering up with his little sister clinging onto his pudgy hands. “Tonight?”

“Yes,” Souji answered, kneeling down so that he was face-to-face with his nephew and niece, “I believe so. Both of you have not seen them in such a long time, have you not?”

The boy shook his head while the girl just looked wide-eyed in wonder. Sakura remembered that it had been only last year that the two children had seen fireworks, but little Midori had been sound asleep by the time the show had started, and thus did not remember a single thing. She heard Souji laugh, before seeing the young man stand back up, saying, “I cannot deny my nephew and niece of such a wonderful show in the skies.”

At this, Mitsu turned towards the villa and Sakura looked up from the needlework she had been doing, having discreetly watched the exchange happen out of the corner of her eyes. “Sakura-san,” Mitsu said, “I know I gave you the night off, but would you like to accompany us around the city tonight?”

“I would love to,” she answered after taking a moment to put her needlework down before getting up and bowing, and it was the truth. She knew that her husband was terribly busy with rumors of dissent and rebellion in the cities south of Kyoto, and her daughter was away on a mission – thus she had absolutely nothing to do tonight other than tend to her own affairs, which was not much.

Usually, whenever Souji or Rintarou (whenever he was not busy with vassal lord duties, which was not often) were accompanying Mitsu and her children outside of the villa, she was not needed for her bodyguard duties, but to have this invitation extended towards her, touched her. The stigma of being a shinobi was still evident, but at least the Okita family had accepted her presence as a friend and not as a wary untouchable. Granted it had taken a long time to get to this point, and in turn, she had kept the fact that the family had hired a shinobi as a bodyguard a complete secret – the family's social standing was still intact.

“Thank you for the generous invitation, my lady,” she said, and straightened herself.

* * *

_Nightfall, a few hours later..._

 

The lively atmosphere in the streets of Tokyo for the summer festivals was infectious, but Sakura had been operating in this type of environment for too long to be affected by it. Instead, she had fallen into old habits and ways, as soon as the Okita family and her had reached the more populated streets where vendors selling their wares to both tourists and natives. She could feel herself searching every face, trying to read the intent on each man, woman, and child.

Fortunately, the facade that she had put up in front of Mitsu and the others was solid, and thus she smiled and laughed her way through many conversations, keeping herself close to Mitsu and the two children, but not close enough to worry her charge. It was a time of relaxation and festivities, not a time to worry about an assassination attempt, and she did not want that coloring any of the Okita family's minds. It would only be her that worried about such things.

It was in the midst of scanning the crowds that she spotted two familiar faces, and smiled as they in turn saw her. She knew that normally, they would not bother her unless she asked them to, and since she was off duty, she felt that this was a good time as any to formally introduce a part of her family to her employers. If ever the Okita family needed help and she was not present, then at least they had two people that they could go to.

Beckoning them over, she gently said to Mitsu, “My lady, I would like to introduce my adopted daughter, Machimaki Haruka and her husband, Ichirou.”

Mitsu turned slightly, giving the approaching couple a sunny smile that blossomed into a full one as she saw just how heavily pregnant Haruka was. Sakura knew that it was not time yet for Haruka to give birth, but the impending due date was approaching. Her adopted daughter was probably out here, enjoying the last of the festivities before she would be confined to a birthing house to ensure that the child born to her would have the greatest chance for survival.

Not that it was already risky for any woman to give birth, even with learned western medicine to aid in the already exhausting birthing process – very few kunoichi ever produced progeny. The fact that Sakura's husband allowed Haruka to carry a child to term was in itself amazing; most kunoichi, if they ever got pregnant, would have aborted the fetus without a second thought, for in their line of work; carrying a child was dangerous, for they were constantly working in enemy territories. Time and time again, Haruka had been sent behind enemy lines to save fellow Oniwabanshuu members, but Sakura was glad that her adopted daughter had found someone proper in her life and that she was about to give birth to a new generation that would continue to carry on their legacy.

“Hello,” Haruka said, bowing and introducing her self, “I am Machimaki Haruka.”

Haruka's husband did the same, bowing as he said, “And I am Ichirou. It is a pleasure to meet friends of my wife's step-mother.”

Mitsu returned the bow as she reigned in her children to do the same, just as Sakura caught out of the corner of her eyes, both Rintarou and Souji approaching, curious. “I am Okita Mitsu, and these are my children, Kiyoshi and Midori.” The little children gave proper bows, and a few moments later, the two men arrived and introduced themselves to Haruka and her husband.

As they stood chatting around, she couldn't help but notice that the children were a little bored by the conversation. Souji had noticed it too, and she caught the young swordsman's eye before giving a very slight nod of her head, indicating that she would cover for his absence as he took the children to do something a bit more fun.

However, it was a little too late, as the children had already found something to entertain themselves with, a vendor stall with small toys. “Okaasan! Otousan! Can you buy me this?” little Midori shouted, scurrying off to the vendor.

“Ah, pardon me,” Mitsu gracefully said, and hurried after her daughter.

“No worries, Okita-dono,” Haruka replied. “There are a lot more sights to see tonight, so we'd best be going. Thank you for introducing us, mother. It was a pleasure making your aquantainces.”

With proper bows given, the little group split, and Sakura shook her head in slight exasperation as Kiyoshi ran off to join his sister and mother. Souji was also nowhere to be seen, but she wasn't worried.

“You already got something, Midori! It’s my turn now!”

“But I like it! It’s pretty!”

“Now, now, calm down, we have plenty of more things to see,” Rintarou said from afar, still standing where he was when the group had been talking, laughing as little Midori pouted. Fortunately, the girl's mother took her by her hand and gently guided her towards where a vendor was selling sweet dumplings.

Sakura serenely smiled as she caught the half-formed, exasperated look on Rintarou's face and merely nodded in sympathy. She remembered that her own children, though both now all grown up, had been just as rowdy, if not as demanding as Mitsu and Rintarou's own. Time would temper their personalities into proper behavior. However, a strange event happening behind Rintarou caused her to briefly look away from Mitsu and her children. That serene smile on her face blossomed into an almost open laughter as she saw just what was going on.

Rintarou had noticed the changing of her expression and had also glanced back, before returning his attention to her and said, “My apologies Sakura-san, it looks like I might have to go help Souji.”

“No worries, Okita-dono,” she replied, and a moment later, she watched as the head of the Okita family approached Souji, who looked to be at total ease with a bunch of children surrounding him, clamoring to get a piggy-back ride from him. There was currently a little girl sitting on his shoulders, waving a small paper pinwheel around, while other children were wanting the same thing. Souji's actions had turned several heads around the area, and she could see that many young women, in particular, those who looked like they were still unmarried, were giggling and whispering to each other.

Taking one last look at the happy chaos that Souji had created, Sakura returned her attention to Mitsu as an unsettled feeling crept up in her stomach. Looking around, especially in the rooftops above, she could see nothing out of the ordinary and wondered why her instincts were telling her something else. Nevertheless, she approached Mitsu, just as she saw her friend hand little Kiyoshi a sleeve of dumplings, to which the boy jumped up in down in joy before gobbling the dumplings up.

After Mitsu had paid, she stepped up herself, indicating to the vendor for a single sleeve herself. As she waited for the vendor to finish making a fresh batch, the unsettled feeling in her stomach suddenly became ice-cold.

“Okita Mitsu?”

Sakura felt herself freeze as she heard the question – there was ill intent in that tone of voice. As her friend politely answered the query, she turned to see that a rather tall man had stopped in front of Mitsu and her children. Rintarou and Souji were still a few vendor stalls down, with Rintarou trying to help extricate Souji from the throng of children.

There seemed to be more people around the area than there was only a few minutes ago. She turned her attention back to the man and frowned slightly. There was something not right about the stranger and an instant later, she reacted, pushing her friend and children away – just as a needle-thin blade shot out from the right sleeve of the man’s yukata. She felt only a brief flash of pain erupt on her face before she felt no more.

* * *

Her mother's body had unceremoniously hit the ground for a few seconds before the first of many screams pierced the skies. The crowd scattered, but Aya was already moving, leaping down from the dark rooftop perch she had been sitting at for the past few minutes. She had returned to Edo only an hour ago, and had stumbled upon this little festival in the area, but her happy thoughts and observations were immediately erased as she landed and swiftly drew out her wakizashi. In one fluid motion from her crouch to absorb the impact on the dusty ground, to the withdrawing of her blade, she had struck up and into the man who had killed her mother.

Slicing up from navel to chin, she gutted the assassin, hearing the hidden mechanism that the assassin had used to shoot the needle-thin blade break and clatter to the ground. The assassin had foolishly tried to raise his arm in an effort to defend himself, but it was no obstacle to Aya's blade.

The assassin slowly fell to the ground in a spray of blood, but she had already turned her attention to another dark-clad assassin who had managed to get a short blade out to defend himself. Kicking up dirt from the dusty ground, she sprang forward just as the assassin raised a hand to shield his eyes, and slammed into him feet first. Putting all of her weight behind the attack, he howled in pain as ribs gave way and stumbled back, crashing into the ground.

Wasting little time, she stabbed him in the heart before he could do anything else, and glanced up to see that two more assassins from the group had been killed by swordsmen. However, the rest of the assassins were just realizing that they were outmatched and were scrambling towards the rooftops. Four throwing knives from her arsenal flew from her fingers and they struck true at her target.

The closest assassin who had been trying to climb up to the rooftop fell into a heap, knocking over crates, lanterns, and broke a vendor stand, but she was not even paying attention to the dead body's trajectory. She was already sprinting as fast as she could to the other side of the street, leaping and bounding up on crates and barrels, landing lightly on the rooftops. Those who murdered her mother were trying to run away, but they would find no escape and no mercy from her.

~~~

Ayumu watched the scene unfold in front of her as if in a dream, hoping that it was not real. However, reality crashed down upon her with a forceful tug on the front of the outfit she was wearing. It brought her eye-level with the Oniwabanshuu's vice-commander, Machimaki Haruka, who was crouched as best as she could near the dead woman's body.

She blinked rapidly as her eyes focused on Haruka and heard her say, “Stop her, Ayumu. Use any means necessary. Stop her!”

Haruka let her go as she stumbled back slightly with the amount of force that had been pushed against her. Looking wildly around for a moment, she caught the fearful eyes of civilians all around her, along with a glimpse of Haruka's husband, who was currently ensuring that no one, not even the family that Matsumoto Sakura had been protecting, was getting close to the dead assassin or the dead woman.

With her enhanced hearing, she could pick out the sounds of Edo's patrolmen hurrying towards this area. She had only been in this area because of the _Okashira_ 's request to shadow the pregnant Haruka and ensure that no harm came to mother and child. This chaos, the dead people that Aya and the men of the Okita family had killed in reaction to what had initially happened...this chaos, the dead, the people screaming in fright, cries of terror - it was overwhelming.

“Go, Ayumu!”

Ayumu snapped out of the fugue she had found herself in and reacted by sprinting across the dusty street, racing past the still-stunned Okita family, and kicked off the streets by leaping from crate to crate. Her momentum swiftly carried her to the rooftops, where she crouched and paused for a moment to catch her breath. Though her eyes were adjusted for the dark, they were still not fully adjusted yet, but on the other end of the rooftop that she had landed upon, there was a dead body.

In the distance, she could hear the faint sounds of metal clashing upon metal, and followed it. Every so often as she raced across the rooftops, she encountered another dead assassin; some with innards strewn about the tiles, having been gutted quite cleanly, others with expressions crossed between shock and anger, forever locked in death. It was only many streets away from the festive lanterns lighting up the place, in the shadows of the rooftops that she finally found Aya, crouched near the final assassin's dead body.

Stopping on the edge, she spread her arms out and secured her footing on the tiles, hoping that her friend would not see her as an enemy. Creating as best of a cricket sound as she could, the standard signal for an approaching person who was not a threat, she saw Aya's head snap towards her, and saw the still-smoldering fury behind those glittering dark eyes. She stopped and waited, not wanting to resort to violence to stop her friend from her vengeful rampage.

What felt like a lifetime but only a few minutes in reality, the fire in Aya's eyes slowly died, and Ayumu finally heard the sound of her friend's wakizashi, which had been held in a tight, offensive grip, swish to get rid of the blood before being sheathed. Slowly, she approached her friend, keeping her footsteps steady and her arms open. She stopped before Aya and crouched, waiting and watching as her friend suddenly sat on the rooftop, drawing her legs up to her chest before wrapping her arms around her legs.

Silently, she embraced her friend, as she felt droplets of tears land on the sleeves of her summer yukata. She wanted to say soothing words, but all were stuck in her throat as she just sat there, holding Aya. She knew that once Aya had killed that assassin who had killed Sakura, the Aya she knew was gone. Unsanctioned, cold-blooded murder was something that they, the Oniwabanshuu, had been strictly forbidden to do, and Aya had broken it.

She and Susumu had lost their parents long ago to cholera, and she could barely remember what the loss had felt like. However, she had seen enough sadness from people during her assignments outside of Edo, to understand just what her friend was going through. It was already hard enough to have family members serving in the same organization, knowing that at any moment on assignment, they could die.

The fact that she cared about her brother so much was the only reason why she was harsh with him – she wanted him to live and to survive. She never wanted him to die in the service of the Oniwabanshuu, but she had to resign herself to the fact that he was becoming quite competent in the arts. That did not mean though, that she could not arm him with knowledge and skills that increased his chances of survival. She hoped that if she ever died and he was there to witness it, he would never go down the path that Aya went – it was too cruel and it would forever change him.

Her ears picked up on a rooftop interloper as she looked up and around before seeing a shadow bound towards them. As the shadow got closer, she recognized it to be Kashiwazaki Nenji, the commander of the Kyoto branch of the Oniwabanshuu. What he was doing here puzzled her, but not was not the time to worry over such things. He was dressed in the all-black uniform of their group, and when he landed next to them, she knew that something was terribly wrong.

Aya still had not moved in her arms with the appearance of Kashiwazaki, or known to most of them as Okina. She saw the Kyoto commander glance at Aya for a moment before leaning in and whispered in her, Ayumu, ears, saying, “Edo patrolmen are out in full force, and they're looking for the person who killed the assassins. The Okita family are not saying anything that would betray us yet, but our _Okashira_ has his hands full in trying to contain the situation. We need to get Aya back to headquarters now.”

“Look at her,” she hissed, jostling her friend slightly as she indicated with a nod of her head towards Aya. “She can't move right now!”

“Let me carry her,” Kashiwazaki said, reaching out to take the woman from Ayumu. The tears had stopped flowing from Aya's eyes, but there was a blankness to them that scared Ayumu – it was as if a lifeless doll had replaced all feelings in her friend. She would take the vengeful, angry, or remorseful woman over what she was seeing, for it terrified her that someone could actually look like that – completely emotionless.

Handing Aya over, Kashiwazaki grunted slightly as he lifted her up in his arms before giving Ayumu a nod. Running ahead across the rooftops, she scouted out a head, giving the all-clear signal for the Kyoto commander to follow. Step by step, rooftop by rooftop, they slowly made their way back to safe haven. No patrolmen stopped them.

It was only a little after they had stopped did Aya stir from her emotionless fugue. Kashiwazaki silently put her down and she merely spared him a nod of thanks before glancing up at the nondescript building which housed the headquarters of the Oniwabanshuu. Aya started walking towards it, and though Ayumu wanted to stop her – for she knew that judgment would eventually be waiting for her friend inside of that buildling, she did not.

Silently, she glanced over at the Kyoto commander who gave her a sage nod and together, the two of them trailed after Aya. It was eerily quiet in the building when the three of them entered. The building boasted no visible guards, but Ayumu knew that eyes were everywhere. Though she could not feel the presence of shinobi all around her, her sixth sense told her that they were all watching them – that meant that their _Okashira_ was already in the building and either waiting for them or discussing future actions from what had happened tonight.

None of their footsteps echoed on the smooth wooden steps that took them up to the top floor of the building, but with each step, Ayumu found that a fear for Aya had started growing in her stomach. Not once before in the time that she had started serving the Oniwabanshuu until now did she ever hear of an unsanctioned kill being done by one of their own. What was the punishment for something like this? Surely it wasn't death, for with the logic that Kashiwazaki had been sent to retrieve them, the Oniwabanshuu did meant to protect Aya, did they?

At the top floor, the three of them stopped before an unguarded door and Aya raised a hand to knock. The answer to the two loud thumps on the wooden door was swift and silently, the three of them entered into a dimly lit room. Torches, not lanterns, ringed the room, burning quite merrily in the face of such silence and hostility as the three of them walked in. Inquisitive but angry eyes full of judgment stared at them, but most of it was direct at Aya.

Their _Okashira_ was standing behind a plain wooden desk, seemingly absorbed in the scattered leaflets of paper before him. Kashiwazaki held up and arm to prevent Ayumu from going any further as Aya walked the last few spaces that separated her from their _Okashira_ , alone. Looking around, Ayumu could also not help but notice that the two men of the Okita family were here. The fact that they were here meant that the rest of the family was sequestered away and safe, and she mentally breathed a sigh of relief. Haruka and her husband were also present, but were standing near the back of the room.

Apprehensively, she watched as their _Okashira_ stepped away from the desk and around it. Whatever punishment their leader would give, Ayumu desperately hoped that it would not be death. Several people, along with a dear member of their group had already died tonight – more blood did not need to be spilled.

* * *

The crack of an open palm ferociously hitting flesh echoed all around the dark chamber that was only illuminated by the many torches that were placed along the perimeter of the hall. Every person that was present in the hall did not wince in sympathy at the woman who had been openly humiliated by the slap. No one was supposed to, for everyone was supposed to be furious, but Souji could not bring himself to feel angry at his friend.

“You don’t _ever_ kill unless it is an assignment!” he heard the middle-aged man, who had slapped Aya, roar into her face.

“Saganagi clan, _Okashira_ ,” he heard Aya murmur in the silence.

Her insolence was rewarded yet again with another slap on her face.

“Which we have no proof, due to your need to leave a trail of bodies where looters easily picked them clean,” the _Okashira_ said as he turned around and marched back to the low table in the center of the room. Souji saw a few leaflets of paper on the table, dimly illuminated by the single candle that was burning near the corner of the table. There was also something dark sitting on top of the papers. He realized it was a black envelope and his eyes widened very slightly at the significance of it. Was he even allowed to see that?

The Oniwabanshuu leader roughly grabbed the black envelope off the desk and walked back, handing Aya the envelope. “Nagasaki,” the _Okashira_ said. “Shinomori Aoshi is now assigned as your apprentice. Take him with you.”

Aya gave a formal bow to her leader and said, “As you command, _Okashira_.” However, she did not immediately leave as the _Okashira_ turned and walked back to the low desk. Instead, she asked, “May I be permitted to attend the funeral for my mother?”

“No,” the middle-aged man said, only turning his head slightly towards her. “You leave immediately.”

There was only a slight hesitation in his friend's actions before he saw her curtly nod and leave, sparing no other person in the room a glance. As much as he wanted to leave too, to go talk to her, he remained where he was, standing next to his brother-in-law in the shadow of one of the torches that illuminated the area. As soon as the door to the hall thumped close, he saw the middle-aged man nod towards a grizzled-looking man standing next to Ayumu, saying, “Nenji, make sure that both of them make it out of Edo, _alive_.”

“As you wish, _Okashira_ ,” the man said and left without another word.

Souji wouldn't have gotten a chance to leave anyhow, for the _Okashira_ had immediately turned his attention to both Rintarou and he. Before the grizzled man could speak, Rintarou spoke up, saying, “We offer condolences on the loss of a great and talented agent under your command.”

It was highly impersonal, and Souji mentally bristled at just how cold it sounded, for he knew that it had been Aya's mother who had died protecting his sister, niece, and nephew. Edo patrolmen were out and about, looking for the primary killer of the assassins who had tried to kill Mitsu, and though he had not said anything about the potential identity of the killer (Rintarou and Mitsu didn't know who it was, but did not offer descriptions either), the two children and other witnesses were a much different story.

A vague description of Aya (or rather, a black-clad shinobi) had been given to the patrolmen and they were out hunting for the killer. He didn't understand why the leader of the Oniwabanshuu would assign an apprentice to Aya and send both of them off, but he knew that it was not his place to question such curiosities. He just hoped that the person that the _Okashira_ sent after Aya and her apprentice would get them out of Edo alive and unharmed.

Souji was also incredibly glad that Shogunate guards had not been called out for the investigation. It was already enough that his family, especially his sister, was going to be gossiped about, especially with such a public assassination attempt. He, however, could not help but wonder if the resources that Rintarou said he would pour into finding out just who was harassing their family, was the cause of this public assassination attempt.

“Due to the circumstances, we will not be entering into another contract,” Rintarou continued to say. “We would, however, appreciate it if you would give us a copy of your investigation when it is complete so that we may close our own. Thank you.”

He copied Rintarou's bow towards the _Okashira_ of the Oniwabanshuu, but he felt stiff; as if his leg and arm muscles, having drawn his sword against a couple of the assassins to fend them off, was not relaxing. There was currently no threat around, but he could not fully loosen up.

They left the chamber and silently headed to the ground floor. As soon as they were outside, he felt his brother-in-law's hand land on his shoulder. Turning slightly, he stared up at him as Rintarou said in a heavy, somber tone, “Go back to Kondou-sensei's dojo tonight, Souji. Your sister is safe now, as are the children. I will deal with all of this. Kondou-sensei's petition to the Shogun to go to Kyoto as an envoy should not be marred with your involvement in what happened tonight. Go. We'll say that you were not present and the patrolmen misidentified you in the chaos.”

He wanted to protest, but the seriousness in his brother-in-law's voice silenced him. It was selfish of him to accept this gift from his brother-in-law, but there was a look in Rintarou's eyes that told him that he should not refuse or question the gift. After a few moments, he nodded. “Please say goodbye to Mitsu and the children for me,” he said, stepping back.

“I will.”

Turning, he left, wondering just how he was ever going to repay his brother-in-law for his generosity.

* * *

_A few hours later..._

 

“They're safely on their way to the south, _Okashira_ ,” Kashiwazaki stated in the silence that surrounded the hall.

There were only three torches still burning around the perimeter in the empty hall by the time he had returned from the edge of the city. Though he knew that his orders had indicated that both Aya and Aoshi should make it out the city alive, he knew that their leader put priority on Aoshi. Not that the youngest daughter of their leader was expendable, but it was a result of what he and his _Okashira_ , Machimaki Toshirou, had discussed earlier that day.

Someone or some group had been persistently targeting their members, especially those close to the _Okashira._ While he wasn't entirely sure if tonight's incident with the Okita family was a part of that, the loss of their Head Trainer and the _Okashira_ 's wife was a blow to them.

Aoshi was the reason he had been personally summoned from Kyoto to discuss the future with his old friend. Though the scrawny-looking child was only ten, there was a maturity about him that he, Kashiwazaki Nenji, thought not possible for someone so young. He didn't even need to talk with the child to suggest to Machimaki that Aoshi would be the one to lead them into the future and that in order to do that, Aoshi needed to get out of Edo before her politics could sink her teeth into him.

He knew that Machimaki meant to send Aoshi a little later in time, perhaps when harvesting season came, but tonight's incident accelerated the plan. The fact that they also needed to spirit Aya out of the city made it convenient to place Aoshi with her. Her reaction to tonight's incident was a blemish that would never be covered, but according to the trail of bodies that he had seen, it had showed her prowess and discipline with a blade, and Aoshi needed that taught and instilled into him to survive the future.

The Oniwabanshuu would never give up one of their own to any of the authorities in the cities that they had agents in. Each member of the group was valuable in what they brought to the table with their skills, and it made them very unique when compared to other shinobi groups. It also made them complacent, and Kashiwazaki could see how someone was able to wage a long war against them, festering in the shadows they thought clear. Still, they were going to hold themselves to their tenants and fight this dark disease from within.

“Nenji, old friend,” he heard Machimaki quietly speak up from the center of the room. “Am I being too cruel?”

Puzzled as to what his friend and leader was referring to, he approached and stopped before him, seeing only a shadowed face look back up at him. Haunted eyes stared at him, filled with grief, but that grief was not only for the loss of yet another wife, but also something else. It was that something else that caused him to say, “I don't understand, _Okashira_.”

“My first daughter, Haruka, will be giving me a grandchild soon. I have allowed her to do as she wished, along with marrying the man she loves. In return, she has given me all in executing her duties. My second daughter, Aya, I have controlled almost every aspect of her life. She kills because she is ordered to. I have not allowed her to find happiness, but yet, remarkably, she had found someone to love. It is someone that she can never marry or hope to have a life with. I have tried to separate them, as had Sakura, and as a last resort and fulfillment of my wife's wish, I have sent her to Nagasaki, in the hopes that both she and the person she loves will forget about each other. Am I being too cruel to my daughters?”

“There can be no fault in what you do, _Okashira_ ,” he replied. It was cold words that he had said to his friend, but in grief, he knew that decisions made were not rational. He wanted to give his honest opinion about what had been told to him, but right now, his friend, his leader, his brother-in-arms was too wrapped up in the loss of Matsumoto Sakura. If what his leader said was true, then to say that Machimaki was a cruel father to his daughters, especially with the decision to send Aya away, would undo the layer of protection they had given to Aoshi.

What the Oniwabanshuu did in life, always required sacrifices, especially if the future held the drums of war.

 

~*~*~*~

**Author's Note:**

> One door closes and another opens as we now will begin to traverse into the world of wild politics, and equally dangerous schemes that followed the Roshigumi in 1863.


End file.
